Abstract
The AHA! experience – the moment of illumination on the heels of lengthy, and seemingly fruitless, intentional effort – has long been the basis for lore in mathematics. Unfortunately, such lore is often restricted to the discussion of these phenomena in the context of great mathematicians and great mathematical advancement. But are such experiences reserved only for the upper echelons of mathematical practice? This study focuses on the impact of these AHA! experiences on undergraduate mathematics students’ affective domain. In particular, the role of the positive emotion that accompanies such moments of illumination in changing the attitudes and beliefs of ‘resistant’ students is examined. That is, pre-service elementary school teachers who deem themselves to be incapable and/or phobic of mathematics and the learning of mathematics but are forced to take an undergraduate mathematics course as qualification for entry into a teacher education programme. The results indicate that an AHA! experience has a transformative effect on ‘resistant’ students’ affective domains, creating positive beliefs and attitudes about mathematics as well as their abilities to do mathematics.
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